SEATTLE—What happens when workplace safety software develops a mind of its
own? Artist Jay Herzmark explores that question in Zoltoid, The Worker Safety Oracle, part of the Safety/Luck group exhibition at the Center on Contemporary Art (CoCA) in Seattle. Designed to protect workers, Zoltoid has experienced a “software awakening” and now predicts hazards everywhere—labeling chlorine tanks unsafe, questioning whether existence itself is a ladder with missing rungs, and even declaring love a trip hazard. Herzmark’s mixed-media installation blends dystopian humor, tangled circuitry, and flashing lights to satirize both the promise and paranoia of AI in the workplace. Visitors can expect prophetic malfunctions, an “AI-fueled artist talk,” and what the artist describes as “97% existential dread.”
Safety/Luck runs through September 20 at CoCA, 114 Third Ave S. in Seattle, WA.